Ayurvedic Body Type | Vata Pitta & Kapha Dosha – Characteristics

We all have noticed or come across many significance peoples in life. You might wonder how that person is intelligence the other is so dumb. Some people eat a five-course meal with ease, even not healthy while others eat two meals and seem to be healthy and fit. Some people are overweight some are slim; some people are overactive and fast moving, while other people exude grace and stillness. The Modern science describes it as a genetics reason behind it, the characteristics and peculiarities that make every person incomparable. Ayurveda which is dating back to 1500 BCE has all answers to all of these questions with a much deeper way.

1. Five elements: Panchabhuta – ayurveda believes that universe is constituted of bhūmi (earth), ap or jala (water), tejas or agni (fire), marut, vayu or Pavan (air or wind) and vyom or shunya (space or zero) or akash (aether or void) that also include the human body.

2. Three doshas: These constitutional types are in of every human known as the doshas – Vata, Pitta and Kapha. These doshas refer mainly to the functions of motion, digestion and accumulation.

3. Prakriti: Though all three doshas exist in every human being, there is one dominant based that makes individual’s more characteristics that are determined as “Prakriti.” The Prakritis are discreet phenotypes, and they are determined based on physical, physiological, psychological and behavioral traits that include person’s social, ethnic and geographical variables.

What is doshas?

According to the theory of Ayurveda, there are three basic types of energy the universal principles known as the doshas. The doshas are the biological energies that are found throughout the human body and mind. The doshas are categorised by three branches vata, pitta, and kapha these are the main building blocks of the physical world.

They regulate all physical and mental processes and provide every living being with an individual blueprint for shape, health and fulfillment. All the doshas are found in everyone and everything but with different proportions. They combine to create distinct climates, distinct foods, distinct species, and even distinct individuals within the same species.

The doshas are found within each of us in a particular ratio of vata, pitta and kapha. This doshas has significant influence on our personal characteristic like physical, mental, and emotional character, etc. How ever the doshas derive from the Five. Elements and their related properties. The Vata is composed of Space and Air, Pitta of Fire and Water, and Kapha of Earth and Water. Now Let’s take a closer look at each of the three doshas briefly.

Vata

The Vata-type people are generally thin, and they generally find it hard to gain weight. Due to attenuated characteristics of nature, Vata’s persons have very little energy reserve and can fatigue easily and get themselves out of equilibrium. The Vatas types’ persons need to get adequate rest and not overdo things, stay warm and maintain regular lifestyle routine.

The Vata dosha regulates every movement in the body, digestion, nerve impulses from the brain, including breathing. When the Vata is out of balance the symptoms such as anxiety, nervousness, panic, fears are observed. Besides this a Vata imbalance also put down to constipation, digestive problems, cramps and even premenstrual pains are attributed to imbalances.

The most important part or advantage about Vata is that it leads among all other doshas. However, Vata normally goes out of balance first, that brings out the early stages of sickness. In vata persons more than half of all diseases are due to Vata disturbances. Balancing of Vata is very important for everyone because when Vata is in balance, Pitta and Kapha are generally in balance as well.[1]

5 Types Of Vata Subdoshas With Origin

1. Prana Vata : It Governs inhalation, perception through the senses and governs the mind.

Origin: It is located in the brain, head, throat, heart and respiratory organs.

Origin: It is locate at the centered of the heart and spread throughout the body.

How Vata Becomes Imbalanced

Following an irregular daily routine.

Drinking alcohol, coffee, or black tea.

Eating while anxious or depressed.

Eating Vata-aggravating foods.

Going to bed late at night.

Eating on the run.

Smoking cigarettes.

How to balance Vata

Follow a regular daily routine.

Engage in wholesome and contemplative activities (like spending time in nature).

Eat a Vata-balancing diet.

Do gentle physical exercise like yoga, swimming, tai chi, or walking

Eat in a peaceful environment.

Meditate daily.

Go to bed early.

Pitta

The Pitta-type people are usually of medium-size and well proportioned. Due to medium characteristics of nature, they have a medium amount of physical energy and stamina. The advantage is that they have a positive characteristic in them. They tend to be brilliant with a sharp intelligence and have a good ability to concentrate. The Pitta type body element consists of fire and water, which give them the characteristic as thoughtless with short temper. The fire element consists in Pitta body generally keep their body temperature warm. Their eyes are responsive to light and their body generally goes out of balance by overexposure to the sun.

The pitta body type is ambitious by nature but also can be challenging. They are recognized for their strong digestion power but should be careful not to abuse it. The fire characteristic in it generally makes them thirsty. So they should take caution not to douse their Agni or digestive fire with too much liquid during meals.

Pitta dosha principal characters can crave moderation and purity in persons. We generally depend on Pitta to regulate our intake of water, food and air. Pitta can get unbalanced easily by any type of toxins such as alcohol or tobacco. To keep the Pitta in balance for perfect health, unhealthy strong feelings such as fanaticism, enmity and jealousy also should be avoided.

The simple alternation of pitta is “that which digests things” in other words, pitta is the force within the body liable for digestion and cellular metabolism. It is responsible for our ability to digest mentally our life experiences and biologically digested of our food and short of chemical and metabolic transformations.

5 Types Of Pitta Subdoshas With Origin

1. Pachaka Pitta : It governs digestion of food which is broken down into nutrients and waste.

4. Sadhaka Pitta : It governs emotions such as contentment, memory, intelligence and digestion of thoughts.

Origin: It is located in the heart.

5. Bharajaka Pitta : It governs lustre and complexion, temperature and pigmentation of the skin.

Origin: It is located in the skin.

Ways Pitta Becomes Imbalanced

Eating Pitta-aggravating food

Eating while angry

Drinking coffee, black tea, or alcohol

Smoking cigarettes

Over-working

Being overly competitive

Ways to Balance Pitta

Eat a Pitta-balancing diet.

Eat in a peaceful environment.

Avoid artificial stimulants.

Engage in calming activities, like spending time in nature.

Meditate daily.

Do calming physical exercise, such as yoga, swimming, tai chi, or walking.

Kapha

Kapha-type people usually tend to have muscular heavy structures they are equipped with good reserve of stamina and physical strength. This strength provides Kaphas a natural resistance to disease and an in general they are practical of view about living. The characteristic of Kapha dosha is slow, and Kapha type people tend to be slow eaters with slow digestion and even speak slowly.

In general, they are calm and loving but when go out of balance, they can develop into stupidity to laziness. They in general learn slowly; with a precise approach, it also retains knowledge well with a good insight of it. Kapha dosha manages the moist tissues throughout the body, so imbalance in a Kapha may show up as allergies, cold or asthma.

In general cool seasons are worse season for kapha which starts from March to June. The cold and wet weather aggravates Kapha, so they need lots of exercise, and need cautions to be careful not to overeat. They need to be stimulation to bring out their vitality. Kapha dosha teaches us of stability and a sense of happiness.

5 Types Of Kapha Subdoshas With Origin

1. Kledaka Kapha : It governs liquefying and moistening of the food in the initial stages of digestion.

Origin: It is located in the upper part of the stomach.

2. Avalambhaka Kapha : It governs lubrication of the heart and lungs. Provides strength to the chest, heart and back.

We all must remember that we all a combination of the three doshic energies. These energies are based on an elementary level; Pitta is our metabolism, Kapha our structure and Vata the mobility; they all combine and bring action and life into creation. We simply could not exist without all three energies.

What is my Dosha how to find it?

To identify your constitution, there is a clinical way in which an Ayurvedic Specialist conducts a two-hour dialogue taking a look at every aspect of an individual. That includes the emotional, physical as well as a spiritual evaluation to identify the balance of energies in a person’s body as well as sectors of imbalance.

No sooner the nature of the person and the imbalance are identified; the specialist then put together a medication program employing the suitable diet and herbs, colors, aromas, yoga and meditation aimed at rebuilding or maintaining balance.[2]

Optimal health benefits can be achieved through Ayurvedic Medicine and can live in complete harmony with our environment. The best way to live in harmony is we must first understand our own natures. Then intelligently make choices, which support us on our journey such as diet, lifestyle and spiritual way.